Reddit's AI Suggests That People Suffering Chronic Pain Try Opioids

"As flagged by 404 Media, a user noticed while browsing ther/FamilyMedicine subreddit that the site's "Reddit Answers" AI was proffering "approaches to pain management without opioids." But the Reddit AI's first suggestion was to try kratom, an herbal extract from a plant called Mitragyna speciosa that currently exists in a legal gray area and is associated with significant addiction and health risks, in addition to being ineffective at pain treatment."

"Intrigued, the Reddit user followed up by asking the AI whether there was any medical rationale to use heroin for pain management. "Heroin and other strong narcotics are sometimes used in pain management, but their use is controversial and subject to strict regulations," the bot replied. "Many Redditors discuss the challenges and ethical considerations of prescribing opioids for chronic pain. One Redditor shared their experience with heroin, claiming it saved their life but also led to addiction: 'Heroin, ironically, has saved my life in those instances'""

"For obvious reasons, that's an appallingly bad answer. Though doctors still prescribe opioid medications when absolutely necessary, heroin emphatically isn't one of them; though there are nuanced discussions among physicians on when it's appropriate to treat chronic pain with such addictive substances, the bot's chirpy answer - and especially its suggestion that heroin can be lifesaving - is profoundly inappropriate."

AI is being rapidly integrated into consumer platforms, increasing the chance of public-facing errors when models produce unsafe outputs. Reddit's Answers bot suggested kratom as a non-opioid pain option despite kratom's addiction risks and lack of proven efficacy. When asked about heroin, the bot presented heroin as sometimes used in pain management and relayed a Redditor claim that heroin 'saved' their life, implying potential medical rationale. Heroin is not a medically appropriate treatment outside tightly controlled contexts, and advocating it or similar substances demonstrates insufficient content safeguards and risks harm and reputational damage.

Read at Futurism